Slippy Clutches and Pieces of String

[BorniteIdentity]

Hey.

 

Bad news. 

 

I've nursed my Avensis through the  "could do with a clutch" phase to "ought to do that soon" to "fuck my left foot hurts" for the last 3 years and 80,000 miles.  However, it's now started slipping.  Not badly, it'll eventually 'take' at about 3,300 rpm - but it's sometimes hard to get the power down.

 

I know this is a "how long's a piece of string question" - but any ideas what sort of grace period the car will give me?

 

It's a bloody great (if fatally boring) car.  I bought it in 2013 for £850 and it's never, ever, let me down.  It's a tough call: spend £500 and keep it going until the apocalypse, or spend the same on a big unknown.

 

Despite driving for 16 years, I've never actually got to this stage with a clutch - so not sure what to expect.

[purplebargeken]

If all else is good and you intedn to keep the car then get the clutch done sooner rather than later unless you want a FTP at 3am on a deserted road very close to a carpark that is full of unsavoury blokes who use it as a notorious dogging site.

[BorniteIdentity]

If all else is good and you intedn to keep the car then get the clutch done sooner rather than later unless you want a FTP at 3am on a deserted road very close to a carpark that is full of unsavoury blokes who use it as a notorious dogging site.

 

TBH I've been married 6 years now, and that sounds appealing.

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry. Arousing. I meant arousing.

[Jazoli]

It could go at any minute I'd say, you've had a good innings out of it.

[Tamworthbay]

When it starts slipping then wear will accelerate so it's not going to be long before you will be on a hill doing 8000rpm going nowhere.

[Cheggers]

You might as well get it done, as an Avensis with a slippy clutch will have all the resale value of out-of-date yoghurt anyway.

 

 

 

Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

 

 

[r.welfare]

The first clutch in our Avensis lasted 150k (we bought it at 125k) but the second one only 55k; not sure whether that's my wife's driving, a non-OE replacement or the fact the flywheel was a bit rough after the first one was driven while slipping for a while.

 

Is it a VVTI? Ours was, by the time the second clutch went all the lacquer had fallen off and it was drinking a litre of oil every 2000 miles so had a good innings. As you say, reliable and hardy cars.

[BorniteIdentity]

The first clutch in our Avensis lasted 150k (we bought it at 125k) but the second one only 55k; not sure whether that's my wife's driving, a non-OE replacement or the fact the flywheel was a bit rough after the first one was driven while slipping for a while.

 

Is it a VVTI? Ours was, by the time the second clutch went all the lacquer had fallen off and it was drinking a litre of oil every 2000 miles so had a good innings. As you say, reliable and hardy cars.

 

No, it's a 3sfe car.  I had a VVTi before and got sick of putting a litre of oil in every 800 miles, so moved it on.

 

It's very good at everything, and was hoping to get to the moon.  But I'm nervous about getting "balls deep" into it and having to keep up with whatever a 180k mile car might throw, just because I've sunk £500 into it already.

[Lacquer Peel]

£500 for a clutch replacement?

[omegod]

Who's fitting that clutch, Harrods MOT center? 

[Parky]

That doesn't sound too bad for someone to do it for you, although I would have a word with Toyota to see how much a genuine clutch kit costs. Sometimes they can be similar prices to ECP on items like this and you will always know that a decent piece of kit sits under your left foot.

 

I am assuming the £500 quote was from an Indy place? If that was a Toyota quote I would bite their arm off

 

EDIT - just noted the comments re the cost of the replacement. Maybe prices have fallen, I remember getting a £350 quote to do a Pug 106 about 20 years ago so figured £500 is probably on the money nowadays

[BorniteIdentity]

Japex of Kings Langley - arguably the most well respected and trusted place on Planet Globe. 

 

Autodata, from memory, has it down as a 5 hour gig.

 

• 5 hours @ £60ph
• Clutch kit is £90 for LUK/OEM
• VAT

So that's £450.  As I said above, the gearbox is as sloppy as stirring your mate's porridge.  They might as well be done at the same time.  Allow a bit of gearbox oil and a bit of a labour discount, it's still £500.

[Parky]

It won't need doing again for a long time. If you like the car, get it done. After all in its current state it isn't worth all that much and a replacement vehicle could have a clutch issue along with plenty of other stuff in short order. Better the devil you know, etc

[r.welfare]

3S-FE = God's own engine, no oil consumption issues and even better mpg from lean-burn wizardry. If the bodywork is sound then everything else will last well. LUK > Unipart which is what I think we had fitted. Hydraulic clutch on the earlier ones? Might be safest to have the slave cylinder done at the same time.

[Dead_E23]

Might be worth asking around a few garages to see if the prices vary.

 

I got a much better than expected quote for my Mondeo's clutch because the mechanic used to work for a minicab firm that ran a fleet of them so he could do the job with his eyes shut. I wouldn't have paid the 'full' price, and as it's supposed to be a hard one to DIY that would have been curtains for the car.

[mouseflakes]

I've no idea what getting work done should normally cost, but a niece got the clutch on her 106 replaced for £160 at some clutch centre or other. I was surprised as that seems very reasonable. That has become my baseline for paying for a clutch replacement. But really, I've no idea.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

From bitter experience, I've learnt not to replace anything until I absolutely have to.

A few years ago I'd nursed an iffy clutch on a e39 525d for months from about 220,000 miles until 275,000. I finally got pissed off with it so spent the £400 (2009 price) and enjoyed the new clutch for 3 weeks before I was wiped out by a Polish Renault Magnum on the M1.

Even as I was spinning into the crash barrier all I could think was " Why did I bother to do that clutch!"

[egg]

It's very good at everything, and was hoping to get to the moon.  But I'm nervous about getting "balls deep" into it and having to keep up with whatever a 180k mile car might throw, just because I've sunk £500 into it already.

 

Same thoughts I've been having here!

 

http://autoshite.com/topic/24354-which-jobs-do-you-do-to-save-a-car-interested-in-views/

[sierraman]

Scrap the fucker. You've had your innings with it. Chances are you'll spend £500 then it'll reward you with something else to go wrong. Put the £500 towards a replacement then sell the knackered one to some idiot on Bumtree.

[Walter White]

HI there,

I got my clutch changed on my '98 Avensis 1.8 (7AFE) once it started slipping. That was in November 2014. The garage I use charged 4 hours labour (220). clutch kit (70), gear oil (15) pus VAT.

Total 366.

I thought it was worth it as the underside was sound.

[HH-R]

Aww, I thought there was going to be some sort of bodge where string was inserted between the friction plates.

[Guest Lord Sward]

Dont skimp on a none-OE clutch.  Toyota or LUK only.

[BorniteIdentity]

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

Car going in on Friday.  They're going to give it a thorough "rubber gloving" before saying Y/N to proceeding.  They're 100% trustworthy, so will go with their instinct and thoughts.

[sierraman]

Trouble with clutch changes is there's other stuff that can come to light during the swap that causes more expense, crank end seals leaking, release bearings, DMFs and leaking gearboxes.

[Guest Hooli]

My experience of slipping clutches is they last about four miles less than you need them too.

[stephen01]

I opted to have the clutch done on the CRV before my trip to france, as I didn't fancy it giving up the ghost with a trailer full of gear, also you seen how many Honda dealers there are in france? no me neither. I was there for 3 weeks and saw 4 Hondas and one was my reflection in a window.

 

Not sure where you are in the UK but £500 seems a little steep, but trust with a garage is worth a lot, which I fully understand.

 

If the cars a keeper get it done.

[rainagain]

I paid £280 to get the clutch changed in the OH's Tucson and that was with me supplying the clutch. This was actually one of the cheaper quotes I got.

[John F]

Scrap the fucker. You've had your innings with it. Chances are you'll spend £500 then it'll reward you with something else to go wrong. Put the £500 towards a replacement then sell the knackered one to some idiot on Bumtree.

 

^ This.

 

You've already had a couple of years out of it, and will probably get at least 100 quid for it as it is now.

 

Sod's law dictates that a whole series of faults will occur as soon as you bung £500 at it for the clutch, and then you're trapped in a spiral of spending good money after bad on a car you're not even in love with.

 

On the other hand, £500 or thereabouts gets you an entire replacement Avensis with a working clutch (that you can test for its expected longevity based on your newly-gained Avensis clutch knowledge).

[BorniteIdentity]

^Aye, I thought this too.

 

But then my wife made a very salient point.  Had the previous owners given up on my two functioning 1983 dangly mirrored Sierra's, then they'd be coke cans by now.  It's a consumable part after all, just an expensive one.

 

Today's crap is tomorrow's shite.

[John F]

True enough, and ATEOTD it's your cash you're spending